Sharing stories. Connecting people. Making healthcare safer.

Using patient safety data to drive quality improvement

When we first launched BC PSLS Publications in 2013, we were curious to see how healthcare leaders and staff would use these reports to improve patient safety in their organizations. As we’ve evolved our analytics platform, we’re impressed by those around the...

Keeping patients safe during a colonoscopy

A colonoscopy is a medical procedure used to screen for colon cancer. It’s recommended for people with a personal history of colon polyps (benign growths that can turn into cancer), a family history of colon cancer, or a positive Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)....

Staff contest acknowledges patient safety champions at VCH!

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) held its first contest to raise awareness among staff about the critical role of sharing lessons learned from patient safety events, near misses and hazards reported in SLS (VCH’s version of BC PSLS). "The Most Helpful SLS Contest"...

An interview with Victoria Schmid, Executive Director, Quality and Safety, Island Health

Victoria Schmid joined Island Health as Quality and Safety Director in September 2015 after five years in a similar role with the Saskatoon Health Region in Saskatchewan. We met in her office at Royal Jubilee Hospital where she shared her views on IHealth and how the...

Putting an end to violence in healthcare

A nurse working in one of Fraser Health’s Emergency Departments was violently assaulted by a patient last year. The assault left the nurse physically and emotionally harmed and, like other healthcare workers who have experienced similar incidents, return to work is...

Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A potentially fatal condition for surgical patients

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is when a person experiences repeated episodes of complete or partial blockage of the upper airway during sleep. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, OSA is a common condition that affects over one in four Canadians (26%)....

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Mission & Vision

Our mission is: To make health care safer for all British Columbians by fostering a culture of safety, shared learning and continuous system improvement.

Our vision is: Safe health care for BC: No needless harm.

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Who We Are

BC Patient Safety & Learning System (BCPSLS) is a web-based tool used by approximately 100,000 health care providers across BC to report and learn about patient safety events, near misses and hazards. BCPSLS has fostered improvements in patient safety and quality of care in all health care settings since its inception in 2008.

Today, we are focused on streamlining data collection and output, enhancing learning across our health care system and improving the quality of our modules and tools.

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What We Do

Over 400 safety event reports are submitted to BCPSLS each day from across the province. This data is allowing us to identify safety concerns and target quality and safety improvements where they’re needed most. To date, over one million safety event reports are in the BCPSLS database. Data summaries provide a rich basis for learning and improvement to over 10,000 healthcare leaders across BC.